America’s Recession in Manufacturing Could Be a Boon To World Consumers
Everywhere we go we hear this joyous refrain: The U.S. economy is doing great! And it’s true if you’re wealthy, heavily invested in the stock market, which was up ~30% last year. Just be glad you’re not a farmer or a factory employee, or anyone else in the working class.
From CNN Business:
America’s manufacturing downturn isn’t letting up. Factory activity contracted for the fifth consecutive month in December, registering a worse drop than expected.
The Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index logged its lowest level since June 2009 at 47.2, compared with the consensus forecast of 49. It stood at 48.1 in November. Any number below 50 denotes a contraction. Uncertainties surrounding the US-China trade war weighed on the sector last year. And while Washington and Beijing stand to sign a preliminary trade deal on January 15, economic data from December was still deflated because of the spat. “Global trade remains the most significant cross-industry issue, but there are signs that several industry sectors will improve as a result of the ‘phase one’ trade agreement between the US and China,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM manufacturing business survey committee.
Last week, the Federal Reserve argued in a paper that import tariffs hurt US manufacturing…..
As we take a look at the photo above, however, maybe America’s retreat from manufacturing is actually making the world a better place. Whoever designed this keypad has made a whole lot of people very confused.
Craig,
How you hate America and Americans! As long as America doesn’t conform to your particular self-loathing, “blame America first” agenda, you will delight in ‘talking down’ the economy and the nation .
That’s very sad.
It must especially outrage you (even though you are perpetually outraged) to see the President winning the trade war against the Peoples Republic of China and re-employing all those American workers.
How it must gall you to see all those workers Obama threw on the scrapheap while his VP and some Democrat Senators made corrupt billions from US enemies at the expense of US citizens, being re-employed and propering.
Even more annoying for you must be the realization that the long suffering American worker, woman, black and Hispanic workers have woken up and deserted the Democrats in favour of a President who doesn’t take them for granted or call them deplorables !
You may celebrate the downfall of America and dream of a socialist utopia elsewhere in the world, but the American worker’s eyes have been opened and they’ve realized there’s an enemy within America preying on their loyalty, to subvert their prosperity and betray the nation.
Craig, please try to curb your obsessive hatred of the US President and try to be realistic about his policies.
The President may not be your kinda guy, but his policies are working for the betterment of the US, and especially the US working class.
These changes are irreversible. The competition between the US and China will intensify over the next few decades.
It’s the natural consequences of having two big dogs in the street where once there was only one.
Russia is a spent force. Russia is no threat to the US, except in the imagination, but China is a different story.
The Chines have so far enjoyed little success outside China due to the power of the US and Western Europe.
However, that is beginning to change. Firstly, the Chinese are getting better at trade and producing superior products and technology. Secondly, the Chinese have stopped exporting political philosophy, preferring to capture economic advantage by more subtle means.
In Africa. central Asia, and Latin America the Chinese are building a loyal customer base by providing the sort of trade and infrastructure these nations want, instead of technologies the West think they need.
The Chinese are capturing the vast resources of the third world and building the sort of trade and commerce links once dominated by the West.
Although Taiwan and South Korea are still bulwarks against Chinese expansion, they continue to lose ground in Africa due to restriction on technology.
President Trump is the first US President to confront this new paradigm and his strategy has been cautious but resolute.
On the one hand he can’t afford an all out trade conflict with the PRC without also damaging America, but he’s determined to impose sufficient containment to regain American advantage and increase competition.